Sketch tattoo ideas

480 photos and flash · 22% Botanical, 14% Fine line · Forearm most common

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Pencil sketch of a mermaid with shell and starfish tattoo designs on both upper arms and forearms, drawn in red and blue on kraft paper.
Mermaid tattoo design sketch
Three black and white geometric dotwork tattoo designs drawn on white, built from stacked triangles, diamonds and dotted shading.
Three geometric dotwork design sketches
Pencil sketch flash design of a woman with long flowing hair embracing herself, framed by script lettering and floral flourishes, shown without a body placement.
Woman with script lettering design
Black and grey pencil sketch of a shaded feather with a flock of birds lifting away from its tip, a tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Feather with birds taking flight
Loose black ink sketch of a cat face with bright green eyes, drawn on white paper with a Posca marker lying at the top left.
Ink sketch of a cat face with green eyes
Pencil sketch of an octopus with a cat-like head and curling tentacles, drawn as a possible tattoo design on a soft grey background.
Octopus with a cat-like head sketch
Pen drawing of a neo-trad style lighthouse design inside a rope-edged oval, with clouds, waves and crystals, in black and grey ink on paper.
Lighthouse in rope frame design
Close photo of a rough red line drawing of a skull on the upper arm near the elbow, set against a plastic-covered backdrop.
Red sketched skull on upper arm
Black and grey pencil sketch design of a vintage microphone wrapped in a ribbon, surrounded by music notes and a treble clef.
Vintage microphone with music notes sketch
Black and grey pencil-style sketch of a lotus flower with an Om symbol above it and dotted swirl accents, drawn on a white background, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.
Lotus and Om symbol design
Sketch-style black and grey cat face tattoo with blue eyes on a person's upper back beside the shoulder blade.
Sketched cat face on a shoulder blade
Three pencil and ink flash drawings of roses inside triangular frames, drawn on translucent paper, with botanical and geometric detailing.
Three triangle framed rose designs on tracing paper
Pencil drawing of a skull nestled among the petals of a rose with leaves, a neo-traditional tattoo design sketched on a spiral sketchbook page.
Skull in a rose, pencil flash design
Two side-by-side photos of forearm tattoos: EVE from the film WALL-E in grey shading on the left, and a sketchy black ink WALL-E on the right.
EVE and WALL-E robots on forearms
Forearm tattoo of a figure with spiky dark hair, drawn in sketchy black linework with pink, purple and red watercolour splashes.
Watercolour portrait with sketched linework on forearm
Black ink drawing of seven moon phases stacked in a vertical column, each filled with floral linework, on a sketchbook page beside a fineliner pen.
Seven moon phases with floral fills
Pen drawing of a ribcage arranged in the shape of a heart, shaded with black hatching on white paper beside a black Sharpie pen.
Heart-shaped ribcage drawing in black ink
Pencil sketch of two hands meeting to form a heart shape on white paper, with a black pen lying beside it.
Pencil sketch of two hands forming a heart
Loose sketch-style tattoo of Belle and the Beast from Beauty and the Beast in yellow, blue and orange washes, on the thigh.
Belle and the Beast in loose watercolour sketch
Small loose-line mountain ridge tattoo in dark ink on an ankle, with a suede sandal strap and woven bracelets beside it.
Mountain ridge sketch on an ankle
Pen and ink sketch of a wide-eyed owl with spiky crown feathers perched on a bare branch, drawn on aged parchment-toned paper.
Wide-eyed owl perched on a branch
Pen sketch of a weeping willow rising from a cupped open hand, drawn in black ink with dense hatching, a design suited to a botanical tattoo.
Weeping willow growing from an open hand
Blue pencil sketch of an ornate pair of scissors crossing a comb on cream paper, drawn as a possible tattoo design.
Sketch of scissors and a comb
Pencil sketch of a heart split down the middle and held together with cross stitches, a design that could work as a tattoo flash.
Stitched heart sketch in pencil
Black ink drawing of a lion's head framed by a large mandala and two smaller mandalas, sketched on paper as a tattoo design.
Lion with mandala motifs sketch
Black ink sketchy fine line tattoo of a looping helix ending in a script letter, placed on the ribs.
Looping helix with script letter on ribs
Black fine-line script lettering and a dragon sketch tattooed along a forearm, with a second small dragon outline near the wrist.
Script quote with dragon sketch on a forearm
Two black and grey tattoo design sketches on paper, a winged moth with eyes above a ram's head framed by a triangle and geometric lines.
Moth and ram head tattoo designs
Fine line pen drawing of an open pocket watch with Roman numerals, surrounded by interlocking gears and large clock numerals, on paper.
Pocket watch and gears line drawing
Pencil sketch of a winged fairy with raised arm and swirling tail, a possible fine line tattoo design with no body part shown.
Pencil sketch of a winged fairy
Pen sketch of a vertical arrow design with a compass, heart and cross on white paper, held beside a pencil in a hand.
Vertical arrow, compass and heart sketch
Pencil sketch of an ornamental lotus-style tattoo design with beaded details and chain swags running across the page, drawn on paper beside a mechanical pencil.
Ornamental lotus pendant design with chain swags
Pen sketch of a tattoo design showing a hand rising from ripples with a banner reading DON'T LET ME DROWN, in black and grey linework.
Hand rising from water with banner
Pencil outline of a butterfly on white paper, surrounded by green, teal and black ink splashes, as a possible tattoo design sketch.
Butterfly line drawing with green ink splashes
Pencil sketch of an anchor wrapped in rope with three roses, drawn on cream paper by a hand holding a pencil, a traditional-style tattoo design.
Anchor with roses and rope sketch
Three stacked panels of black ink sketches showing eyebrow hair-stroke designs on a grey-green background, drawn as a brow tattoo design guide.
Three eyebrow stroke design sketches
Pencil sketch flash of three bitten circular designs with crossing lines and dots, labelled Fantastic, Allons-y and Geronimo, with no body placement shown.
Three bitten circle sketches with phrases
Ink line drawing of a lion's head framed by chrysanthemums, daisies and leaves on white paper, shown as a tattoo design with no body placement visible.
Lion and flowers line drawing
Pencil sketch of a dreamcatcher with long feathers and a flock of small birds drifting off to the right, drawn as a tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Dreamcatcher with feathers and flying birds
Red pencil sketch of a cartoon owl with spread wings clutching a faceted gem and a small flower, drawn as a tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Cartoon owl sketch with a gem
Pencil sketch of two crossed arrows with the words BE, AND, STILL and KNOW set around the crossing point, a lettering-led tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Crossed arrows with 'Be still and know' lettering
Red and blue coloured pencil drawing of a lily with three butterflies and flowing swirls, a tattoo design with no body placement shown.
Lily and butterflies tattoo design sketch
Black ink sketch of a fleur-de-lis with loose, scratchy brush strokes on a white background, shown as a design rather than on skin.
Sketchy black fleur-de-lis design
Hand-drawn pencil sketch of the words Once upon a time in ornate script with swirling flourishes, a lettering design for a tattoo.
Once upon a time lettering sketch
Black and grey sketch-style tattoo on an outer thigh, photographed with a black Metallica bodysuit and fingerless gloves.
Black and grey thigh tattoo with band top
Pencil sketch of an interlocking script monogram in black and grey, drawn as a lettering design for a tattoo.
Interlocking script monogram sketch
Black and grey pencil sketch of an open rose drawn on paper, shown as a tattoo design study with no body part visible.
Pencil sketch of an open rose
Black and grey pencil design of symmetrical blackletter-style lettering with four wolf heads and flowing ornamental lines, drawn as a flash design for a tattoo.
Symmetrical blackletter lettering with four wolf heads